


Fabulous Bartlet Boys, The

by Marguerite



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Episode Tag, Episode: s04e15 Inauguration: Over There, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-03-16
Updated: 2009-03-16
Packaged: 2019-05-30 17:08:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15101246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marguerite/pseuds/Marguerite
Summary: Vignette, post-ep forInauguration: Over there.





	Fabulous Bartlet Boys, The

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

At a quarter to three in the morning following Bartlet's second inauguration, the balls might have wound down but Toby was still haunting the corridors of the White House in his tuxedo, an unlit cigar dangling between his index and middle fingers. He lived for nights like this, when speeches left the pundits scrambling for superlatives, when a few carefully placed words changed the future of the administration. They all lived for nights like this, come to think of it. Even though Leo had dismissed them half an hour before, Toby knew that the senior staff would probably still be somewhere in the building.

For himself, he hoped to stumble across a glass of scotch and some friends playing a few rounds of poker, both of which he felt he richly deserved. He hadn't come across anyone he particularly wanted to be around, so he went further than usual and found himself outside of the East Room.

There was music. Piano music, specifically, and it was both elaborate and melancholy. Toby waited outside, letting the music wash over him for long, luxurious moments. His natural curiosity got the better of him and he turned the knob, opening the door and stepping inside to see who was playing.

Will.

His jacket was still on, but Toby could see the tie hanging from the music rack of the magnificent grand piano. Will's whole body swayed with the notes that rang with such sonority from his instrument, and he was so wrapped up in his music that he either did not know that someone had entered the room or simply did not care. Toby suspected the former.

He backed out of the room as quietly as he had entered. Will was still an outsider to the group, the ink only barely dry on his commission, and he had the added disadvantage of replacing someone as beloved as Sam. Perhaps it was time to let the staff know a little more about Will Bailey.

Once the cigar was placed carefully at the base of a potted plant Toby couldn't identify, he took out his cell phone and dialed his bullpen. Bonnie answered, sounding rather tipsy. "It's me," Toby said without introduction. "Get them to the East Room."

As he hung up the phone and retrieved his cigar, Toby realized with a pang that the time he'd be able to make such an order was growing shorter. So much to do in these four years.

Then what?

He shook off the melancholy mood, and by the time CJ came up to him, shoes in one hand and a glass of champagne in the other, he was able to offer her a genuine smile. She'd taken more than one for the team and she was weary, but she was magnificent even with fallen hair and stocking feet.

"What's going on?" she asked, raising her eyebrows as Toby put his finger over her lips. He felt the familiar frisson pass between them. The sudden light in CJ's eyes told him that she felt the same thing.

Something else they'd have to put off for later.

"Listen," he whispered.

CJ cocked her head and smiled. "Who's in there?"

"Will Bailey."

"No kidding?" She pressed her ear to the door, the angles of her body softening as she moved in time with the music. "He's good."

"Who's good?" Josh asked around a yawn. His clothes were a wreck – jacket missing, shirt wrinkled beyond redemption, tie at an impossible angle. Disheveled as Josh might be, he was still swaggering and grinning. He draped one arm around Toby's shoulder and the other around CJ's waist, hugging them both at once.

"That's Will," CJ said, pointing toward the East Room.

Josh looked at the door, then back at CJ. "You named the door Will?"

"The piano, Josh," groaned CJ.

That didn't seem to help. Josh gaped at her. "You named...the piano..."

"Will is playing the piano," Toby cut in, desperate to stop the conversation. "I heard music when I walked by, so I opened the door and saw that it was Will playing."

"Ah." Josh nodded sagely. "So if Will's in there and he's really good, why are we out here?"

CJ shrugged and tapped Josh on the arm with the toe of her shoe. "Good question.  
I say we invade."

"By all means, let's invade the East Room." Toby made a gallant bow as Josh opened the door, and he followed them in as Will finished his piece with a flourish.

They applauded. Will turned abruptly. "How long have you been in here?" he asked, folding his hands in his lap as if embarrassed to have been caught in something as self-indulgent as music.

"Outside, a couple minutes. We just came in," Josh said as he walked over to the piano. "Brahms, huh?" he asked.

Will brightened. "You play?" he asked.

"Me? Nah." Josh's smile disappeared and Toby saw CJ's shoulders sag a little. Josh ran his finger along the curves of the mahogany piano. "My sister. She, uh, did."

No matter how many times he heard Josh speak of his sister in the past tense, Toby always felt a tightness in his chest. Will just nodded without saying anything. Toby wasn't sure if Will knew the story, but obviously he had enough tact to recognize the darkness in Josh's voice. "Should I stop?" Will asked.

"No, no," Josh protested, leaning against CJ. "The rest of us, it's all we can do to play the radio."

"Speak for yourself." CJ pulled away from Josh and rested her hip in the curve of the piano. "I can sing."

Toby couldn't restrain a chuckle and Josh laughed outright. Sniffing in indignation, CJ flung her stole across her shoulders. "Play something sultry," she said to Will with her most imperious expression.

Will sat back down on the bench and started playing something warm, a jazz tune Toby couldn't quite place. CJ took Josh's hand and danced a few steps with him until his smile returned at its full wattage. "Give me a boost," she said to both Josh and Toby as she returned to the piano.

"You'd like a boost?" Josh asked, smirking.

"I would indeed. It is my intent to sit on this piano."

"It's a Steinway," Toby pointed out.

"Then I intend to sit on this Steinway while Will plays," she insisted, holding out her hands until Toby could no more resist her than he could resist the need for oxygen. He took her left arm and Josh her right, and together they helped her balance as she wriggled her way atop the instrument.

Josh continued to register disapproval. "You can't sit here. Rubenstein played this piano. Paderewski played this piano."

"Paderewski played the Gold Steinway," Will countered. "This one was given to the White House in 1938."

"You're an East Room geek," Toby said, but he felt an odd surge of pride mixed with happiness at Josh's easy, bright laughter and the gorgeous sight of CJ lounging on the piano, her long legs crossed at the ankles. "Where'd you learn to play?" Toby asked.

"Switzerland, mostly. Paris in the summers." He sounded as casual as if he had been talking about a sandlot ball game.

"You didn't get, you know, beaten up?" Toby asked, patting his pockets in hopes of finding another cigar. He was unsuccessful.

CJ scowled at him. "His father is Thomas Bailey. He probably could beat up the other kids' dads."

"Actually," Will said, pausing long enough to push his glasses back up on his nose, "he got other people to beat up the other kids' dads." He struck up again, playing "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes." Smiling, Josh walked across the parquet floor and leaned against the wall with his hands clasped behind his back.

"That's nice," CJ murmured approvingly as Will modulated and began to play "The Way You Look Tonight," his fingers moving smoothly across the keyboard. "You have gorgeous hands."

Will blushed - a compliment from CJ could do that to a man - but kept on playing as CJ began to hum along. "Typing sixteen drafts of an inaugural address is a good workout."

"I bet," Josh called out. "You do this a lot?"

Shrugging, Will played a glissando and returned to the song. "I mentioned once to the First Lady that I played, and she offered to let me use the piano whenever I needed to let off steam. Which lately, as you can imagine, has been pretty often."

Toby understood completely. "Given your track record with windows, I'm surprised they let you near anything as nice as a 1939 Steinway."

"1938 Steinway," CJ corrected. "You should listen more."

"It's more fun to watch." Toby walked slowly to where Josh was standing, and mirrored his pose. "This is nice. We should have poker games in here."

"We should do everything in here. While we can. We have so little time left." Josh's voice was dark and wistful.

"Four years isn't 'little' time," Toby responded in spite of his own fears to the contrary.

Josh shook his head. "Look how fast the last four went by."

"We have some work yet to do, I will grant you." Toby pointed to the piano, where CJ was singing in a smooth alto while Will accompanied her with exaggerated gestures. "But we'll take care of it. You and me and that man there, the one playing the Very Expensive Steinway of Uncertain Vintage."

"What am I, chopped liver?" CJ shot from across the room. "And it's 1938." 

Toby tugged at Josh's arm, leading him back to the piano. "You are many, many things, CJ, but chopped liver is not one of them." He stopped talking. Will stopped playing, and CJ and Josh looked expectantly at him. "What?"

"We thought you were going to say something profound or something," Josh said.

"Nope. Keep...doing that," Toby murmured, waving at CJ and Will. "You keep doing that, and the other things we do." He nudged Josh. "We get four years, and there'll be nights like this and nights that aren't, and you know what?"

"We just keep doing the things we do?" Josh asked, grinning.

Toby nodded. "We have four more years. We have three experienced heads and one fresh one. And Will, here, can play the piano. I say we can perform miracles. Miracles, I tell you." He paused while the others laughed softly. "Or at least some decent jazz."

CJ slid off the piano and rested her hand on the lid as she put her shoes back on. "Okay, Brubeck, it's time to get our nightly hour of sleep. Walk me to my car?"

He offered his arm, smiling as CJ nestled close to him. "Will, Josh, you coming?"

"I'm going to play for a while longer," Will said. "Even if I go home, I won't be able to sleep."

Josh put his hands in his pockets, looking down at the floor. "I'm pretty wired, too. Mind if I...sit and listen for a while?"

CJ smiled down at Toby and squeezed his arm. Josh was going to sit and listen. And maybe talk. And he and CJ wouldn't sleep, either - they'd wind up with Irish coffee and he'd massage her feet until she drifted off on his sofa.

Then they'd come in at seven, stand with the President in the Oval Office, and prepare for whatever was next. Toby smiled to himself, breathing in CJ's fragrance and reveling in her touch on his arm.

He was ready.

***  
END  
***

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